DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1 and 3-10 are pending and claims 2, and 11-28 have been cancelled.
This action is in response to the papers filed 1/26/2026 and 2/19/2026.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments are not persuasive relative to the new amendments; in claim 1, at least the Kanetta '772 reference still provides/meets the new limitations, when considering the view in Figure 15 as discussed with Mr. Bruley, where the inlet boss was considered as the lower small bore of the valve that surrounded 14 and the outlet boss as being the bore of 11c surrounding 11a.
During the final search for patentability, after the consideration of the limitations provided by Mr. Bruley on 2/19/2026, references were found to overcome the latest amendments to the claims. The rejections for that reference is provided in the action below.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the pending claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The indicated allowability of claims is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Stolson et al. Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
The action has been made Non-Final.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-28 were withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/21/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 7/21/2025 has been acknowledged.
Claims 11-28 have been cancelled based on the amendments filed 1/26/2026.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 1, at the end of paragraph 0049, after "406." Insert the following; - -A portion of the inlet boss 410 extends beyond both an innermost end of the trunk bore 406 an outer perimeter of the inlet bore of the inlet 114 toward a longitudinal axis of the flow path. - -, in order to provide support for the claimed limitations in claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 4, “and outlet” should be - -an outlet - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
The claims submitted on 2/19/2026 and 1/26/2026 have been entered.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by Stolson et al. (US 2024/0117913).
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Regarding claim 1, Stolson et al. disclose an insertion valve (20) comprising: a first casing (42) comprising a trunk (48) defining a trunk bore (within 48 surrounding 78), the trunk bore defining a diameter (at the diameter of the bore surrounding 78);
a second casing (44) opposite the first casing (as shown in Figures 1-2) the first casing and the second casing defining an inlet bore (the bore within the pipe 34 surrounded by 50), an outlet bore the bore within the pipe 10 surrounded by 52) and a flow path therebetween; and a cartridge assembly (60,78,62,79,64) comprising an inlet boss (lower section at of 78 having 250, see Fig. 2) disposed on an inlet side of the cartridge assembly and located within the trunk bore (inner bore of 48) of the first casing, wherein a portion (the bottom most portion of 78 and 250) of the inlet boss extends beyond both an innermost end (the innermost end of 48) of the trunk bore and an outer perimeter (the outer dimension of “PD”) of the inlet bore toward a longitudinal axis (the inherent centerline horizontal axis through 10,12) of the flow path, and wherein the cartridge assembly further comprises an outlet boss (the upper flange of 78) disposed on an outlet side (the uppermost side of 78) of the cartridge assembly.
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Regarding claim 4, Stolson et al. disclose the inlet boss is defined by a monolithic tongue (the lower section of 78 shown as being the cylindrical section at the lead line of 78 within 42) that is monolithic with a lower cartridge body (252) of the cartridge assembly.
Regarding claim 5, Stolson et al. disclose the monolithic tongue extends adjacent to the diameter of the trunk bore (as shown above in Fig 2 and 3, the tongue extends immediately adjacent to the diameter).
Regarding claim 7, Stolson et al. disclose the inlet boss extends radially inward into the flow path defined by the first casing and the second casing (as shown in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 8, Stolson et al. disclose the inlet boss is disposed on a lower cartridge body (the cylindrical section at the lead line of 78 within 42) of the cartridge assembly and the cartridge assembly is inserted within the trunk (as shown above in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Stolson et al. disclose the cartridge assembly is restrained within the trunk, and the inlet boss is monolithically defined on the cartridge assembly (as shown above in the figures).
Regarding claim 10, Stolson et al. disclose angled fasteners (see Fig. 1, the un-numbered straight seven pins holding the first and second casings together) that restrain the cartridge assembly within the trunk of the first casing.
Claims 3 and 6 being read with an alternative reading of claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Stolson et al. disclose an inlet pipe (in Fig. 2, the left pipe at 34) defining an inlet pipe end (at 34 near 259) and an outlet pipe (10,12) defining an outlet pipe end (the left end of 10),
wherein the inlet pipe end abuts the inlet boss (54), and the outlet pipe end abuts the outlet boss (56), and wherein the cartridge assembly further comprises a bonnet (60), a lower cartridge body (the flange of 78) attached to the bonnet, and a gate (64) configured to move within the lower cartridge body and the bonnet between a closed orientation and an open orientation, and wherein the inlet boss is configured to prevent contact between the inlet pipe end and the gate and the outlet boss is configured to prevent contact between the outlet pipe end and the gate.
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Claim 1 being read in an alternative manner with claim 3; Regarding claim 1, Stolson et al. disclose an insertion valve (20) comprising: a first casing (42) comprising a trunk (48) defining a trunk bore (within 48 surrounding 78), the trunk bore defining a diameter (at the diameter of the bore surrounding 78);
a second casing (44) opposite the first casing (as shown in Figures 1-2) the first casing and the second casing defining an inlet bore (the bore within the pipe 34 surrounded by 50), an outlet bore the bore within the pipe 10 surrounded by 52) and a flow path therebetween; and
a cartridge assembly (60,78,62,79,64) comprising an inlet boss (54) disposed on an inlet side of the cartridge assembly and located within the trunk bore (the cartridge assembly is located in the inner bore of 48) of the first casing,
wherein a portion (the thickness of 54) of the inlet boss extends beyond both an innermost end (the innermost of 48) of the trunk bore and an outer perimeter (the outer dimension of “PD”) of the inlet bore toward a longitudinal axis (the inherent centerline horizontal axis through 34 pipe) of the flow path, and
wherein the cartridge assembly further comprises an outlet boss (56) disposed on an outlet side (the right side of 42) of the cartridge assembly.
Claim 6 being read with the alternative manner with claim 1; Regarding claim 6, Stolson et al. disclose the inlet boss extends radially outward (the thickness of 54 extends radially outward towards the left of the view) from a central axis (the central axis of 34 and 12) defined by the trunk bore (this central axis is defined “by” the trunk bore, in that it is “near” (“in the vicinity of”) the trunk bore).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Craig Price, whose telephone number is (571)272-2712 or via facsimile (571)273-2712. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:00AM-4:30PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3607, Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CRAIG J PRICE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753